


File 03: Our Lady of Mercy Sanatorium

by MistressEast



Series: First Order Investigations [3]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: AU, Ghosts, Hux is tired and needs none of this, M/M, Paranormal Investigators, Phasma Is A Huge Lesbian, Pre-Slash, and the resistance trio is here, get excited cuz there are real ghosts in this one, haunted hospital, i cant believe that's NOT a tag, jealous!hux, medium!Kylo, not just sadness ghosts like the last one, oh yeah we're going there, that's pretty exciting too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 12:37:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13636443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistressEast/pseuds/MistressEast
Summary: Hux is eager to get things back to normal after the debacle with the Ainsley House, and several mundane cases later, First Order Investigations finds themselves standing before the crumbling structure of Our Lady of Mercy Sanatorium in Sinclaire, Florida. Expecting another run-of-the-mill investigation, Hux is horrified to learn that, through an email mix-up, another paranormal investigation team has been summoned to the hospital as well. But Rebel Paranormal isn't just any other group of ghost hunters; Hux and Phasma have run into them before, and the memories aren't exactly positive ones. To make matters worse, Kylo and Rebel Paranormal's newest member seem to know each other, but Kylo won't explain how or why her presence is making him so moody.Realizing that the hospital is simply too big for one team, Poe and Hux strike a reluctant truce and agree to work together, to the distaste of everyone involved. With Snoke still breathing down his neck and Kylo's odd behavior weighing heavily on his mind, Hux barely has time to worry about the very real and very malevolent spirits roaming the halls of Our Lady of Mercy.





	File 03: Our Lady of Mercy Sanatorium

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so excited to be starting the third installment of FOI! Honestly, when I started planning this series, I never thought I'd even finish File 01, let alone make it to File 03!! I wanted to make this one 3 chapters, but the set-up was simply taking too long, so please forgive the lack of ghosts in this chapter!! I promise they'll be all over the place in the rest of the fic.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who commented or left kudos on File 02. It really means a lot to me.

Armitage Alexis Hux is a man of routines. 

The mental and physical uncertainty of his youth inspired in him a desire to organize and control as many aspects of his life as possible. That's not something he had to be told by a professional; it's simply a fact he has the presence of mind to recognize about himself. He likes order and predictability. He cleans almost compulsively and plans his days to the minute. Through sheer determination, he managed to develop and enforce a ghost-hunting system that makes the entire endeavor, which is widely considered fanciful and unpredictable, rote and practically boring. Just the way he likes it.

He's aware that his slightly _rigid_ nature may be abrasive to some and untenable to others, but he needs structure. He needs consistency.

And what's happening right now is not in keeping with that philosophy. 

"I apologize, can you repeat that?" Hux says evenly.

The young woman behind the desk bites her lip nervously and clicks her mouse a few times, eyes scanning her computer monitor. "I'm sorry, sir, but it does look like we only have the two singles left."

Hux breathes out harshly through his nose. This is the third hotel they've checked and the first to have any available rooms. "Why is every hotel in this city so booked up?"

"Well, Disney just opened that new expansion," the receptionist explains, not making eye contact. "And we always get a lot of visitors around vacation seasons anyway. Sorry."

"It's not your fault." Hux sighs, casting a glance back at Phasma and Kylo, who seem to be locked in some sort of heated debate involving the motel lobby vending machine. Sinclaire is a small city on the outskirts of Orlando, Florida, so, really, Hux should have anticipated something like this.

"I could check our other location across town," the woman suggests, drawing his attention. "Perhaps they have more availability." She doesn't look or sound very confident, twiddling her fingers anxiously on the desk, and Hux sighs. 

"No, it's fine." This just means he'll be sharing a queen with Kylo. That's fine. He can do that. He's done it before, in similar situations, and it was awkward then because they weren't getting along particularly well, but they're much more comfortable with each other now, so it should be perfectly alright. Nothing that has happened since the last time they shared a bed would make it weird, Hux is positive. "Give me the two singles. Sorry for the trouble."

"Oh, no! Thank you for being so understanding, sir." The receptionist looks immensely relieved as she starts keying in his booking.

Hux runs a hand down his face, fingers lingering against the skin of his throat. The bruises have healed, but the brush of his fingertips brings to mind the ring of tender, discolored flesh he lived with for more than a week after Crescent Brook. He's grateful that the last remnants of the injury have finally faded so he doesn't have to see Kylo's pinched expression every time he catches a glimpse of Hux's neck.

He pays and collects their room keys before heading back to the other two. Phasma is shaking her head and munching on a Milky Way bar while Kylo snaps apart a Kit Kat.

"Hux!" Phasma says when he walks up, her mouth full of candy. "Kylo doesn't like Milky Ways! Can you believe that?"

"Yes, because Milky Ways are disgusting," Hux responds dryly, handing over her room key.

She takes it with an eye roll and Kylo lets out a triumphant laugh. "Right, I almost forgot you're an alien, Hux."

"An alien with decent taste, at least," Kylo says, offering Hux a section of his Kit Kat with a smile.

After a split-second of hesitation, Hux accepts the chocolate. "There were only two singles left, so you and I will be sharing, Kylo."

If the news bothers him, Kylo doesn't show it. He just shrugs as he crunches into his candy bar.

"So I've got my own room?" Phasma asks. At Hux's nod, she does a small fist pump. "Fucking finally, some time away from you losers."

"Please try not to catch anything in the few days that we're here," Hux requests.

"I'll catch anything I wanna catch," she quips back.

"You're getting chocolate on your fingers," Kylo points out.

Hux looks down and, sure enough, the heat from his fingers has melted little indents in the surface of the Kit Kat's chocolate coating. He glances back up at Kylo to see him licking chocolate from his own fingers enthusiastically.

"We better get going soon," Phasma says around a mouthful of nougat, pulling out her phone to check the time. "We're supposed to meet Teresa Vasquez in half an hour."

Hux nods, tearing his eyes away from Kylo's mouth and biting down on his Kit Kat. He can do this. It wasn't part of his plan, but if he stays focused and doesn't let himself get lost in unproductive thoughts, his schedule doesn't have to change. He can continue doing things the way he's always done them with little to no deviation. He will not let this silly _infatuation_ interrupt his routine.

Because Armitage Alexis Hux is, if nothing else, a man of routines.

\---

The room is simple, like most motel rooms. A desk, a chair, a dresser with a mirror, a sliding closet, a basic bathroom, and a queen-sized bed.

It's the bed that Hux finds himself most preoccupied with when he and Kylo enter the room to deposit their bags. Kylo dumps his duffel on the desk and heads into the bathroom right away but Hux lingers just inside the doorway, sizing up the source of his anxiety. 

It's a queen, so it's not very big right off the bat. Even though he may be the shortest member of First Order Investigations, Hux is a tall man, so a queen is usually just enough to accommodate him. Kylo, while not much taller than Hux, is nearly double Hux's width and makes rooms seem smaller simply by standing in them. The few times they shared a bed in the past were...tense, partly because they didn't get along very well and partly because they just didn't fit.

For a brief moment, Hux seriously considers sleeping in the _Finalizer_ to avoid dealing with the entire situation, but he can't think of an excuse to give Kylo that won't make him think Hux is avoiding him. Kylo's been somewhat delicate since the Ainsley House and Hux doesn't want to do anything that will make him over-think or jump to conclusions. Not to mention, Hux's back can't take much more of his cot on the RV. Even if it's shared with an over-warm behemoth of a man, a real mattress is still preferable to the thin pallets on the _Finalizer_.

So, having lost the argument with himself, Hux drops his duffel bag on the bed with a sigh.

The bathroom door opens and Kylo exits, crossing straight to his bag and digging through it. "This is the hospital, right?" he asks over his shoulder.

Hux frowns. "You don't even know what we're here for?"

Kylo shoots him a flat look before tugging his faded black shirt over his head. "No, I thought we were going to Disney World." He folds the shirt haphazardly and sets it aside, picking up a dark blue tank-top. "I fell asleep before you and Phasma decided which way to go."

Hux's hands itch to fold Kylo's shirt properly even as his gaze drags up Kylo's sculpted back. There is another potential site in the area, a few towns over, and he and Phasma did wait to decide which one to do first until they got into the state, so he'll give Kylo a pass for now.

"Yes, it's the hospital," Hux responds after a beat, forcing his eyes away from Kylo and unzipping his own bag to follow Kylo's example and change into a fresh shirt. "We may visit the other site after this, though."

"Haunted sanatorium more exciting than a haunted dentist's office?" The smirk on Kylo's face is audible.

"First of all, that's not how we decide which sites to visit and you know it," Hux huffs, unbuttoning his shirt smoothly and sliding it off. "Second of all, it used to be a jail."

Kylo chuckles, pulling the tank on and running a hand through his ruffled hair before turning to face Hux and leaning back against the desk. "So what's the deal with this place?"

Hux struggles against the sudden urge to cross his arms over his chest now that Kylo's looking at him. There's no reason to feel embarrassed. Hux, Kylo, and Phasma essentially live together; they've all seen each other in various stages of undress. Refusing to blush, Hux neatly folds his discarded shirt and reaches for another in his bag. "It's a fairly typical location," he says casually, slipping his arms into a new button-up. "It was opened as a tuberculosis ward in eighteen seventy-four and expanded soon after. From then on was the traditional unpleasantness you'd expect of a hospital from that period. Mrs. Vasquez will tell us the important points." He glances up from the line of buttons down the front of his shirt to see Kylo staring steadily at him. "What?"

Kylo jerks his head to the side and drums his fingers against the desk. "Nothing."

Hux scowls as he tucks his shirt in. He may not be as muscular as Kylo but that's no reason to stare at him so blatantly.

"We should go," Kylo says quickly, pushing off the desk and heading to the door.

Startled, Hux moves to follow but a buzz from his phone stops him. He pulls it out of his jeans and thumbs it open to see a new email from Dr. Snoke. Lips pressed tightly together, Hux shoves his phone back in his pocket and hurries to catch up with Kylo, irritation bubbling in his chest.

Snoke wasn't happy with Hux's insubordination regarding the Ainsley House debacle. They haven't been back to campus since, so he hasn't been able to shout at Hux yet, and he can't justify a suspension after the two weeks they had off before Crescent Brook, especially not when Hux followed all the correct protocols and there was no professional reason for them to stay for four days in the first place. So Hux has been getting frequent emails with more grant paperwork that simply must be completed as soon as possible. It's gotten to the point that Hux is wondering if Snoke is fabricating forms just to spite him. 

The end result is Hux spending time he should be sleeping doing endless paperwork in order to conform to Snoke's relentless timetable. The work isn't hard, just tedious, and he could ask Kylo or Phasma for help, but that would mean admitting he disobeyed Snoke because even they would know this amount of work is preposterous. Phasma would be willing to fight Snoke for being unreasonable, but Kylo is still very loyal to Snoke and might be upset that Hux ignored his instructions. Not to mention, Hux doesn't necessarily want tell Kylo that his mentor ignored concerns regarding his health. No, it's better to just suck it up and take the punishment until Dr. Snoke gets bored.

He can sacrifice a few hours of sleep to keep the team from splintering.

\---

Despite Hux's annoyance at Kylo's flippant question, Our Lady of Mercy Sanatorium is reportedly very exciting. Hopefully not exciting in the way the Marigold Plantation or the Ainsley House was, but exciting nonetheless.

Opened in 1874 as a tuberculosis ward and soon expanded to house malaria patients, Our Lady of Mercy was a Catholic hospital operated alongside Sinclaire's Catholic church and staffed by nuns, who lived in the attached convent. Like with most tuberculosis wards, people who checked into Our Lady of Mercy were completely cut off from the outside world and the malaria patients were kept in a separate wing. Several more expansions were built throughout its life and the hospital was officially closed in 1960 after multiple allegations of mistreatment and money laundering. The decades between were fraught with abuse, neglect, despair, and death. Pretty typical as far as hospitals go, but promising nonetheless.

The structure of Our Lady of Mercy Sanatorium looms over them as Hux pulls into the parking lot, which was repaved during the time the building played host to a popular haunted house attraction. Currently, the hospital is empty, four floors and six wings of nothing but peeling walls and rotting wood, juxtaposed against the palm trees lining the adjacent street. 

Teresa Vasquez is waiting for them in the parking lot and waves as they get out of the car. She's a petite brown-skinned woman with short black hair and a firm grip when she shakes Hux's hand.

"Thank you so much for coming," she smiles after greeting them all. "I'm Teresa Vasquez. I'm the head of the committee in charge of getting Our Lady ready for renovation."

"I'm Hux and these are my teammates: Phasma and Kylo," Hux says, gesturing to them in turn. "So you're renovating the building, not tearing it down?"

"We may have to tear down some sections, and we'll definitely have to gut the rest, but our goal is to preserve the original exterior as much as possible." Mrs. Vasquez casts a fond look at the crumbling building. "The city's main hospital is much smaller than Our Lady and we were planning to build a whole new facility, but the mayor decided to hit two birds with one stone and renovate this building instead," she explains. "Ever since the haunted attraction moved out, it's been a popular place for kids to come and get in trouble. They break in to do drugs or try to see a ghost and then they fall down the stairs or, you know--" she cuts them a slanted look, "--actually see something."

Hux flips through his notepad to a free page and clicks his pen. "Can you tell me a bit about what people have experienced in the building?"

"Well...." she thinks for a moment. "People talk about hearing voices. Laughing, whispering. Stuff like that. The northeast wing was the children's ward and people have reported things being moved and children's laughter. My foreman says he saw a little girl there last week, but she disappeared around a doorway and he couldn't find her again."

Hux nods, scribbling in his notebook.

"He didn't say it was a ghost, and it could have been a real child, but he seemed very spooked." Mrs. Vasquez taps her face as she remembers. "The Saint Luke room is supposedly very active. Oh, right," she laughs. "The south wing was where surgeries were mainly performed and all the surgery rooms were named after saints. There are accounts from all over that wing, but in the Saint Luke room specifically." She drops her voice. "That's where they did the lobotomies."

Hux makes a note, starting a list of possible places to put equipment.

"And of course there's the hall of shadows," Mrs. Vasquez continues. "In the east wing, which is part of the original structure, there's a long hallway on the second floor where lots of people have claimed to see shadowy figures."

"Was that a residential wing?"

"Yes. That floor in particular was where terminal patients were housed."

Hux hums, writing that down.

"There's a bunch of other little things," Mrs. Vasquez goes on. "People will feel suddenly cold or feel like someone is touching them. A few days ago, I was in the day room on the third floor of the east wing and I had a horrible coughing fit. I'm not allergic to anything in the building and I'm perfectly healthy," she assures. "I would have thought it was just dust or something, but when it was over my mouth tasted like blood." She shrugs. "At first I thought I was just dying, but it hasn't happened since and one of the other committee members said the same thing happened to her in the same place."

"Interesting." Passed-consciousness somatic effects are fairly rare. Hux will definitely be paying that room a visit once the sun goes down. "Have you experienced anything else in the building personally?"

Mrs. Vasquez bites her lip, suddenly looking uncertain. "Well, there's...we don't really like to talk about it--it's sort of bad luck for the people working on-site, but...." She crosses her arms defensively and Hux waits, intrigued. "There's...the crawling man."

"This is...one entity?"

"I mean, as far as I know. We all just call him the crawling man because he--it--well...crawls. On the walls and ceilings instead of walking or floating like the other ghosts do."

Hux takes a note. 

"If you don't mind me asking," Kylo pipes up from where he's standing at Hux's elbow, much closer, actually, than Hux realized. "Why don't you like to talk about him?"

Mrs. Vasquez pulls her arms closer around herself, glancing over at the building. "Like I said, it's kind of bad luck. When we started working on the building, we'd all see him occasionally, but it seemed like the more we talked about it, the more he showed up. And things would fall over or go missing whenever he was spotted. And then the guy we had surveying the foundation saw him and found several scratches on his back afterward. It got to the point where we just don't like to mention him."

"He was scratched?" Hux asks.

She nods, unfolding her arms to point at a spot on her lower back. "Right about here. It really freaked a lot of people out."

"I can imagine," Hux murmurs, scribbling in the notepad. "Is there anything else we should know, Mrs. Vasquez?" he says, louder.

She purses her lips. "Nothing comes to mind. But I'll probably remember more as we go through the hospital."

"Of course." Hux tucks the notepad and pen into his back pocket, bumping Kylo with his arm because he's standing so close. He casts him an annoyed look but Kylo just smirks in response. "Lead the way," he tells Mrs. Vasquez.

She smiles and turns to lead them into the building, but before Hux can take two steps, a wheezing rumble cuts through the warm, mid-afternoon air and the four of them stop to watch a small, rusted RV maneuver into the parking lot.

At first, Hux thinks it might be vacationers stopping to check out the city's most haunted location, but then the RV turns to pull into a parking spot not ten feet away and he catches sight of the words spray-painted in silver on the side of the vehicle: _The Millennium Falcon_.

He and Phasma let out simultaneous groans.

"What is it?" Kylo asks, sounding alarmed.

Hux pinches the bridge of his nose as the battered RV comes to a shuddering stop. "We should have chosen the dentist's office."

Phasma cracks her knuckles like a comic book villain. "If they try to start anything--"

"We're not going to beat them up," Hux cuts her off. "Right away," he adds under his breath.

"What's going on?" Kylo demands.

Hux opens his mouth to quickly explain but just then the door to the RV swings open and Poe Dameron bounds down the steps, landing worn leather boots hard on the pavement. He catches sight of the group in the parking lot almost instantly and does a near-comical double-take. 

"What the fuck!" he yells, tactlessly, as always, pointing a finger at them accusingly, even though they haven't done anything yet.

Hux scowls as hard as he can to let Dameron know that the feeling is still mutual.

"What's wrong?" A muffled voice calls from inside the RV, and a second later a dark head pokes out the door. "Oh, fuck no!"

Hux can feel the beginnings of a headache sparking in the back of his skull as Finn descends the steps to stand beside his teammate, hands on his hips and face stormy, still sporting his signature leather jacket.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Finn asks, voice dripping with disdain.

"We're _working_ ," Phasma responds heatedly. "A better question is what are _you_ doing here?"

"We answered an ad for ghost hunters," Dameron says, eyes narrowed. "This was the address we were given."

"That's impossible," Hux states sharply. " _We_ responded to that ad a week ago and were told to come here."

As one, they all turn to look at Mrs. Vasquez, who is scrolling frantically through her phone, shaking her head. "I...I don't know how this happened...hold on, let me find the...." she trails off, searching intently for something on the screen.

"You're not taking another case from us, Hux," Dameron growls. "Take your fancy motor-home and leave. This one's ours."

"That's not how it works, Dameron. And we never _took_ anything from you. It's not our fault you can't keep your paperwork together."

"You're one slimy son-of-bitch, you know that?"

Hux sneers but before he can retort, Kylo steps up beside him.

"Watch your mouth," he snaps, glowering at Dameron.

Finn takes a half-step forward, as if he has any chance of taking on Kylo.

Dameron raises an eyebrow, looking Kylo over before cutting his eyes to Hux. "Who's this? You need _another_ bodyguard, Hux? He's still shorter than Andrea the Giant over there."

In his periphery, Hux sees Phasma flip Dameron off and beside him, Kylo tenses, fists clenching.

"Frankly, our affairs are none of your business, Dameron," Hux says evenly, placing a placating hand on Kylo's arm. "But if you must know, he's a new team-member. Kylo, this is Poe Dameron and Finn--" Hux waves dismissively in their direction. "Amateur ghost hunters and two-thirds of Rebel Paranormal."

"Amateur--!" Finn starts angrily, but Hux plows on ahead.

"Speaking of, I don't see your better third. Did she finally get tired of keeping you out of trouble?"

Dameron frowns and Finn's face twists in fury.

"If you must know," Dameron says mockingly, "Paige was in a car accident and took some time off."

"Oh." Hux feels somewhat chagrined. "I am sorry to hear that. She was the most sensible member of your team."

"Yeah, well now we've got--" Finn breaks off, glancing around like he just noticed he and Dameron are the only ones outside the RV. Huffing, he bangs on the side of the vehicle and Hux swears he can see dirt drifting off the dented metal in clouds. "Rey! What's taking so long? Get out here!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" a female voice calls from inside.

Kylo tenses under Hux's hand, but before Hux can do more than glance at him curiously, loud footsteps pound down the steps and a girl emerges from the RV, slightly out of breath. She's dressed in short over-alls and a graphic tee, beat-up converse on her feet and ruffled brown hair pulled into a messy bun.

"Sorry, those cables were a fucking nightmare," she says, brushing a loose lock of hair behind her ear. She catches sight of Hux's group and tilts her head. "Who are--" she breaks off, eyes widening and mouth dropping open.

Beside Hux, Kylo completely locks up, and Hux looks to see that his face has gone completely pale, eyes huge and fixed on--

The girl--Rey--jabs a finger at Kylo, face slack in disbelief. "You...you...." 

Kylo jolts into action, striding forward before Hux even registers that he's moving. For a brief, insane moment, Hux fears he's going to attack the girl, and steps forward to intercede. Finn and Dameron must have the same idea because they both start to yell and move in front of her, but Rey doesn't flinch. In fact, she moves to meet Kylo, finger poking into his chest and mouth open to say something before Kylo claps a hand over the entire bottom half of her face and seizes her by the arm, stooping over to say something in her ear.

Hux can't hear him, but whatever he says makes Rey relax somewhat because when he pulls away, she's glaring at him but doesn't look ready to scream his head off anymore.

"I'll be right back guys," she says tightly, grabbing Kylo by the wrist and yanking him back into the RV. He goes willingly, shoulders hunched, and within seconds the door is closed and they're out of sight.

A beat of stunned silence stretches over the group.

"Do they...know each other?" Finn asks no one in particular.

Hux's head is whirling, desperately trying to piece this new, baffling puzzle together. "Clearly they must. Unless you react that way to total strangers."

Finn's expression darkens and he looks ready to turn this altercation physical, but then Mrs. Vasquez interjects: "I think I figured it out!"

They all turn to her. She's reading something intently on her phone.

"It looks like you all--" she points at Dameron and Finn, "--were in communication with my associate Sheila."

"Yes, Sheila McNamara gave us the information," Dameron agrees, crossing his arms.

Mrs. Vasquez nods. "And you--" she looks at Hux and Phasma, "--were communicating with me. Somehow, Sheila missed an email from me and you were both told to come." She winces. "I am so, so sorry about the confusion."

Hux glances back at Dameron to find Dameron already staring at him. "Seems like an honest mistake this time, Dameron. How should we settle this?"

"How about this: you still owe me."

"I don't owe you anything," Hux scoffs. "Now, are you going to be an adult about this? Or are we--"

" _I'm_ not the one who _steals_ other people's cases!"

Hux's temper flares, a burning flash in his gut. No one pushes his buttons quite like Kylo, but Poe Dameron is a close second. He was number one on Hux's no-fly list before Kylo waltzed into his life and the reasons why are rushing back to Hux at the sight of Dameron's belligerent brown eyes and carelessly tousled curls. Hux grits his teeth.

"Listen you--" Phasma hisses, starting forward.

Finn moves to meet her. "What're you gonna do, Phasma?" he mocks. "Huh? Punch us?"

"I wasn't, but that actually sounds like a pretty good idea," she jeers, looming over him menacingly.

To Finn's credit, he only cowers a little.

"Well, alright, let's not start a fist fight in public," Hux says, grabbing Phasma's elbow from behind.

Dameron places a hand on his teammate's shoulder. "C'mon, dude," he mutters, just loud enough for Hux to overhear. "We'll be scraping you off the pavement by the time she's done, don't risk it."

Finn seems affronted at Poe's lack of faith in his combat abilities, but reluctantly backs down. Likewise, Phasma breathes out hard through her nose, like a bull, but returns to Hux's side peacefully.

"Okay!" Mrs. Vasquez claps her hands, drawing everyone's attention back to her. "Are you ready for the tour?"

"The tour," Dameron repeats blankly.

"Of the building? So you can find your way around tonight?"

Hux exchanges a panicked look with Dameron. "Mrs. Vasquez, we're not--"

"We're not going to _work together_ or anything," Poe cuts in.

"Thank you for finishing my sentence, Dameron," Hux grinds out, headache now crackling to full life. 

Mrs. Vasquez looks vaguely disappointed. "Then...who is staying tonight?"

"We are," Hux answers at the same time that Dameron states: "Us."

Hux whips his head around to glare at him. "This is our case, Dameron. Regardless of _why_ we're both here, the fact is that _we_ were here first."

"No no no no," Dameron retorts quickly, eyes narrowed. "That's not how it works, it isn't a first-come-first-serve kind of thing."

"Then how do _you_ suggest we resolve this?" Hux snaps impatiently. They're losing daylight and Kylo still hasn't come back with Rey, so he's getting jumpier by the second.

" _I_ suggest that _you_ hit the road."

"That simply isn't going to happen."

"Oh, come on, Hux, _be an adult about this_ ," Dameron mimics in a terrible version of Hux's accent, complete with a petulant eye-roll.

"You're a douchebag, Dameron."

"Name-calling now are we?"

"Don't act like you didn't start it, you _slimy son-of-a-bitch_ ," Hux snarls.

"If the shoe fits!"

"Oh, I know exactly where your shoe fits, _Poe_ ," Hux purrs, dropping his voice and fixing Poe with a meaningful, purposefully heated stare. It's a dirty move, but Hux isn't about to let Poe stand there and insult him like nothing happened a year ago. "I remember _very_ well."

Dameron goes red like someone's filling his head with boiling water. He opens his mouth to respond, closes it, swallows, and averts his eyes, cheeks already crimson under his caramel skin because Poe Dameron, despite all his bluster and confidence, is a big virgin who recalls exactly what happened a year ago.

Finn, conversely, goes pale at Poe's reaction and flicks his eyes between Hux and Poe incredulously.

"Excuse me?" Mrs. Vasquez pipes up hesitantly. "I understand that there's some...tension here, but I have to get back to the office soon. Do any of you need a tour?"

Hux lets out an exasperated sigh. He managed to fluster Dameron but not resolve their problem. "We'll work this out later," he tells Finn and Poe, who's still not meeting his eyes. "For now, let's just check out the building so Mrs. Vasquez can get back to work. Do you think you can handle that?"

Poe glares at him, cheeks still red. "Fine."

"Rey!" Finn yells, marching back to the RV and pounding on the side again. "We're going in! Get out here and bring tall, dark, and stupid!"

Hux watches, perplexed, as Kylo and Rey exit the RV, faces drawn down in irritation and movements stiff with stress. 

"What the fuck was--" Finn starts to ask Rey, but she brushes him off with a brisk "It's not important," before skipping up to follow Mrs. Vasquez into the building.

Hux falls into step beside Kylo as they head toward the hospital, looking up at him in what he thinks is a pretty obvious non-verbal demand for an explanation, but Kylo doesn't even meet his eyes, gaze trained rigidly ahead and mouth pressed into a thin line.

Hux had been enjoying his break from Kylo's weird bullshit, but clearly that reprieve is over.

\---

"This is the lobby," Mrs. Vasquez says, guiding them into a wide, empty room just inside the front doors. The floor was clearly tiled at one point, but most of material has been chipped away to reveal the foundation and the entire expanse is covered in a thick layer of dirt. "All doors leading into the hospital from this room could be sealed to protect visitors and new patients from contracting anything."

"So, Kyle, was it?" Dameron asks innocently as Mrs. Vasquez goes on about patient admittance procedures.

"No," Kylo grunts, not even deigning to stop staring intently at Rey, who's gazing around in child-like wonder. 

Dameron raises a brow at Hux. "Nice guy. Where'd you find him: turning people away from a club?"

Hux has half a mind to make a snide comment about Dameron's experience with clubs, but he knows Dameron has ammo to retaliate, so he settles for a simpering "Shut up."

Mrs. Vasquez leads them to a partially unhinged double-door off the lobby. "Through here is the chapel. Patients who were healthy enough attended services every Sunday, and it was also open to visitors to pray in." She shuffles one of the warped wooden doors aside and beckons them all in. "Most of the stuff in here is left over from the original hospital. The whole building is littered with old equipment and furniture and whatnot, but this room was mostly left alone by thieves."

Finn and Phasma enter the room, giving each other a wide berth, and Hux goes to follow, but just then, Kylo, who had drifted ahead of him, jerks to a halt, just outside the threshold, and Hux stumbles backward to keep from bumping into him.

"What's wrong?" Hux hisses, memories of the Ainsley House automatically flashing through his mind in a horrific slideshow.

But Kylo just shakes his head sharply, like a dog twitching off a fly. "Just bad air," he mumbles, shooting Hux a reassuring glance.

Hux takes a calming breath, resolving not to flip out at every little thing on this case. His heart won't be able to take it.

Edging around Kylo, who shows no interest in entering the room, Hux notices that Rey has frozen in her tracks as well, peering suspiciously into the chapel. Poe is whispering something to her, looking curious. She nods to him.

"No, B--Kylo said it," she says, cutting Kylo a sour look. "It just feels bad. But I don't think there's anything actually in there right now. You can go, it's fine." 

Hux blinks at her, then glances back at Kylo, who is now resolutely facing a different direction. Likewise, Poe furrows his eyebrows at Kylo.

"I'll be damned," Poe chuckles humorlessly. "Here I was thinking we'd finally get the edge on you with Rey here, but you've got your own ghost detector. I'm impressed."

"He's not a--" Hux breaks off on a huff, crossing his arms. "It certainly is a coincidence, Dameron." Another look at Kylo reveals that he's shifting his weight uncomfortably. Rey also appears distinctly awkward, flicking her eyes between the three men with a pinched expression. "What are the odds we'd both add mediums to our teams within the same year?" He directs the question at Poe but purposely twists slightly under the pretext of examining the chapel in order to brush his shoulder against Kylo's arm. He stills in a way that lets Hux know Kylo's picking up what he's putting down. 

Poe shrugs carelessly. "Gotta be astronomical, at least."

"At least."

"I'm surprised, though," Poe continues with an air of exaggerated casualness. "I thought you didn't believe in all this--" he wiggles his fingers around, eyebrows raised, "--hocus-pocus."

Hux gives him a blank look. "I don't."

"But you just said--"

"I'm going inside," Hux interrupts. "Kylo, don't move from this spot, I'll be right back."

Kylo mumbles something under his breath that sounds a bit like "You're not my mom," but Hux ignores him and heads into the chapel, followed closely by a scowling Poe.

"Are your friends alright?" Mrs. Vasquez inquires as they join the group amongst the decaying pews.

"Yes," Hux answers smoothly. "They'd just prefer to stay out there."

Mrs. Vasquez hums, tilting her head. "That's interesting. My foreman says some of his workers won't come in here. Apparently they say it _feels bad_."

Hux scans the damaged chapel with renewed interest. He would trust Kylo's perception anyway (especially after what they've seen the past few months), but if otherwise normal people are affected in this space, there may be more here than just "bad air."

"There's a back entrance that allowed patients to enter the chapel without passing through the lobby," Mrs. Vasquez informs them, gesturing to a door at the back of the sanctuary. "There haven't been any--" she pauses, visibly searching for the right word, "-- _incidents_ in this room beyond the occasional reluctance to come in. No voices or anything."

Hux makes a note absently, peering into the dim corners of the chapel. The room is lit by sunlight trickling in through the huge stain glass window over the alter, but the dust and grime coating the glass make the light weak and grainy, so much of the chapel is shadowy and indistinct from where Hux is standing. 

He half-listens to Mrs. Vasquez's continued explanation, trying to focus on feeling the room. Kylo's rude comment about Hux's paranormal sensitivity back in South Carolina hadn't been inaccurate, however vexed Hux may be about it; he truly has no talent for sensing spirits. That doesn't stop him from trying. Despite only considering the possibility of individuals with true past-consciousness connection abilities fairly recently, Hux never doubted that some people are more sensitive to spiritual energy than others. Before Kylo joined them, Phasma would occasionally remark on the vibe of certain sites or areas, even when Hux could feel nothing. The longer he does this, the more evident it becomes that Hux can only sense entities when they intentionally reveal themselves in one way or another. It certainly makes his chosen profession more difficult and leads him into potentially dangerous situations, but Hux isn't going to let his lack of sensitivity stop him. As much as it pains him to admit it, Hux has found himself leaning on Kylo's enhanced sensitivity to make up for his own deficiency.

Despite his efforts, Hux can't feel anything strange in the chapel. He tries not to be annoyed.

"Alright, I'll take you through the south wing next," Mrs. Vasquez says cheerfully, herding them back to the entrance of the chapel. 

Hux turns in time to see Kylo and Rey step quickly apart and look in opposite directions. If their goal is to appear casual, they're failing, and Hux feels his left eye start twitching.

\---

The hospital is enormous.

Mrs. Vasquez leads them through hall after hall, room after room, detailing incidents that come to mind in each location, and Hux's writing hand is starting to cramp from all the notes he's taking. (Throughout it all, he can't help but notice that no one from Rebel Paranormal is taking notes.) The building is so big, in fact, and the incidents so spread out that Hux is beginning to doubt the feasibility of three people covering the entire place, even if they do stay the maximum four days. First Order has investigated large sites before, with and without Kylo, but on those occasions, they'd been fortunate in that most of the hauntings were localized to smaller areas, so they'd been able to narrow their focus. Our Lady of Mercy seems to have ghosts lurking in every corner, peering around every doorway, and tapping on every window. Hux only has ten cameras. Hux is trying not to panic.

He has no reason to doubt Mrs. Vasquez's plentiful stories, especially since Kylo tenses further with each new area they enter. Hux asks him every time if he's okay and Kylo always responds in the affirmative, but even Kylo's placating smile isn't enough to soothe Hux's concerns.

Rey is also highly distracted by whatever is present in the hospital, her gaze darting around each room like Millicent's when she hears a bug but can't find it. She and Kylo periodically hold whispered conversations separate from the rest of the group, and the only thing that is keeping Hux sane is the fact that Dameron and Finn seem just as put out as he feels. Phasma doesn't seem annoyed by their behavior, but she does start eyeing Rey in a way that Hux recognizes and it makes a muscle in his jaw jump.

When Kylo is with the group and not holding a private conference with Rey, he and Dameron do nothing but heckle each other. Hux is actually impressed how quickly they rubbed each other the wrong way. Kylo's surly stubbornness and Dameron's impish enthusiasm mix in just the wrong way, creating the perfect storm of antagonism and passive-aggression. By the time Mrs. Vasquez guides them into the east wing, Hux suspects his presence and constant warning looks are the only things preventing them from coming to physical blows. 

The same can't be said for Phasma and Finn, however.

They get into it on the second floor of the northeast wing, a simple comment about their respective RVs turning into a full-blown argument. Hux is in the middle of apologizing to Mrs. Vasquez when he hears Finn snap "Not all of us have rich daddies to mooch on like your boss!" and whips around, anger bubbling hot and tight in his throat.

But before he can react further, Phasma, who had previously been endeavoring to follow Hux's no fighting rule, shoves Finn backward. It's obviously meant to be a warning, a physical "shut up or else" because if Phasma really wanted to hurt Finn, she would've started with something worse than a push, but Phasma must have forgotten how positively massive she is, even compared to a solid man like Finn, because the force of the shove sends Finn reeling back. He hits the wall behind him, but instead of bouncing off, a crunchy splintering sound cuts over his surprised shout, and the wall caves against his weight. He crashes through it, disappearing behind a cloud of dust.

"Finn!" Poe yells, leaping forward while Rey curses loudly and follows him.

"Shit," Phasma says, staring blankly at the jagged hole in the wall.

Kylo barks out a laugh and claps her on the shoulder. "Nice job, Wonder Woman."

Phasma grimaces. "I didn't push him that hard."

Mrs. Vasquez hurries over to the hole, through which Hux can see Finn sitting up, looking slightly dazed but unhurt while Rey and Dameron carefully climb through the broken wood to get to him. "Oh dear," she frets. "Are you okay?"

Poe and Rey haul Finn to his feet. "Yeah," Finn says. "Just...startled."

"My bad," Phasma shrugs, not sounding very sorry. "Don't know my own strength, I guess."

Finn glowers at her, attempting to brush dirt and dust off his clothes.

"No, it's not--" Mrs. Vasquez bites her lip. "I'm sure you're very strong, but, to be honest, a lot of the original wood is rotting."

Hux puts a hand on his hip. "That doesn't sound very safe."

"No," she sighs. "That's why we're trying to start construction as soon as possible. The floors should all be fine!" she assures quickly. "But we have to hurry before the whole structure caves in."

"If you don't mind me asking--" Rey ducks through the hole back into the room with everyone else, picking splinters of wood out of her hair. "Why did you put out an ad for ghost hunters? Everyone knows this place is haunted. I guess I just don't see how it affects construction."

Mrs. Vasquez scans the dilapidated room, lit only by the light filtering through the dirty windows. "I was the one who insisted on holding an investigation before construction started. Our Lady is a big part of the city's history, and you're right--everyone knows she's haunted, but somehow it's never been properly documented. The old girl's been through so much, I just figured that was the last thing that needed doing." She smiles ruefully. "Maybe it's silly, but these ghosts have been here for generations and we're about to tear up their home. I guess I wanted to preserve something, some proof that they were here."

Hux thinks the graveyard he knows is behind the building, many of the graves reportedly marked with only a number and a date, and he thinks he understands Mrs. Vasquez's reasoning.

Rey swallows hard. "That's very....thoughtful." She sounds a bit watery.

In his periphery, Hux sees Kylo raise a hand to his face and then quickly drop it, dipping his head so that his dark curtain of hair falls over his eyes, which Hux suspects are damp.

Honestly, _mediums_.

"Mrs. Vasquez," Hux says before the moment can get any more unpleasantly sentimental, tossing a reproachful look at Phasma, "I apologize for my teammate's behavior."

Phasma shoves her hands in her pockets and at least has the grace to look chided. "Yeah, I'm sorry about busting the wall."

"What about--!" Finn starts to object but breaks off when Poe pinches his arm.

Mrs. Vasquez chuckles, waving her hands dismissively. "Don't worry about it. I'm just glad no one is hurt. You all should be careful here tonight. Like I said, the floors should be fine, but the walls are thinner. Watch where you lean."

Hux nods absently, tensing up at the mention of that night. As much as he hates to admit it, Our Lady of Mercy is simply too large and busy for three people and Hux knows if they attempt to tackle it alone, they'll miss a lot.

He glances surreptitiously at Dameron as they all follow Mrs. Vasquez out of the room. He doesn't look as worried as Hux feels, but he is scanning the hall with a tight expression, brow knit. Finn has caught up with Mrs. Vasquez to ask her something about the building and Phasma and Rey are chatting awkwardly behind them. Kylo is trailing Hux like a huge sullen shadow, occasionally picking his head up to squint at something Hux can't see. Unwillingly, Hux concedes that this investigation would be much more manageable with six people.

The realization drags an irritated huff out of him and he clenches his fists, focusing on the sting of his nails biting into his palms to keep himself from screaming in the middle of the hall.

\---

Dameron doesn't react to Hux's suggestion much better than Hux himself did.

"No fucking way," he states flatly, face dark and feet apart like a belligerent horse.

Hux breathes out through his nose and presses his lips together. Once they returned to the lobby, he pulled Poe aside while the others were distracted by photos of Mrs. Vasquez's wife and dog in order to pitch his compromise. "Why?" he asks through clenched teeth.

Poe snorts obnoxiously. "Are you serious?"

"I'm trying to be rational."

"Right, 'cuz that's your whole thing, isn't it?"

"You say that like it's an insult."

"It is. I'm insulting you."

Hux rubs his temples. "This is a terrible start to our partnership."

"We are not--" Poe bites off the rest of his outburst with a snarl and crosses his arms petulantly. He's only wearing a faded tee-shirt, so Hux has an unobstructed view of the sinewy muscles cording down Poe's arms. He allows himself a moment of appreciation, for old times' sake. "Why the fuck would I ever agree to partner up with _you_?" Poe asks, spitting out the last word like venom.

Hux regards him coolly. "Don't act stupid, Dameron. However much it may suit you, we don't have time for your theatrics." 

"Theatrics--!" 

"I know you're not blind; you can see how big this place is. Do you really think your team can cover this whole building in just a few days? It would take over a week for _my_ team to handle it, and we're much more organized than you." 

Poe snaps his mouth shut, still flushed with anger but now glancing around the expansive lobby with drawn brows. He's so distracted he doesn't even bother to reproach Hux for his comment about Rebel Paranormal's operating practices, not that Hux is _wrong_ in any way. 

"Come on, Dameron," Hux continues, attempting to keep his voice free of sass. "This place is a goldmine. I'm not willing to give it up, and you apparently aren't either. This won't be a permanent arrangement, _obviously_ ; I'm only suggesting that we combine resources for a short time."

Poe gnaws on his bottom lip. He's clearly considering Hux's words, which means he must have been more concerned about the situation than Hux assumed. After a thoughtful glance at the rest of his team, Poe blows out a sigh and shakes his head, uncrossing his arms to plant his hands on his hips.

"I hate to say it, and trust me, I _really_ hate to say it--"

"Noted."

"--but you have a point. We have to be in Kentucky in a week, so even though I'd love to tell you to fuck off--" he screws up his face in distaste, "--it makes sense for us to...work together."

Hux suppresses a smug smile. As unappealing as the prospect is, forcing Poe Dameron to concede is a pleasure in itself.

"But you can wipe that smirk off you face because _I'm_ taking point."

Apparently suppressing smugness isn't one of Hux's many talents. He narrows his eyes. "I beg your pardon?"

"If we're doing this, we're doing it my way."

"Oh, of course, _your_ way," Hux sneers. "Your exhaustively researched and perfected method of dropping cameras off of balconies and leaving microphones under staircases so that your audio is corrupted by footsteps all night. How could I forget."

Poe nearly inflates with anger, eyes flashing. He opens his mouth to argue, but then he stops short and his expression melts into something self-satisfied and cocky. "At least we've never left all of our equipment in a collapsing building."

A white-hot flash sears through Hux at the words and he goes stiff, hands balling into fists at his sides. "How do you know about that?" he hisses.

Poe shrugs cheekily, eyebrow quirked. "Word gets around."

Before Hux can demand a better explanation, Poe brushes past him with a blithe smile and strolls toward the others.

Hux resists the urge to stomp his foot like a frustrated child.

\---

"I'd really rather not," Phasma says flatly, picking the pickles off her burger. She pops them individually into her mouth and chews aggressively.

"I would have preferred to avoid this as well," Hux sighs. "But we don't have the time to do it properly otherwise."

"Like they ever do things _properly_ ," Phasma mutters darkly.

Hux agrees with a hum, taking a sip of his tea. They're sitting in a small bistro about halfway between Our Lady of Mercy and their hotel, grabbing a bite before they have to start setting up to prepare for the night ahead. Or at least Phasma is grabbing a bite. Kylo is poking sullenly at his burger and Hux has yet to touch his club sandwich, preferring to consume an entire kettle of black tea instead.

As Phasma dumps mayonnaise on her fries, Hux regards Kylo's slumped form across the table. He had every intention of grilling Kylo about his strange behavior once they got away from the others, but Poe's parting jab had momentarily redirected his ire. Now, however, his curiosity is returning. Ever since laying eyes on that Rey girl, Kylo has been distracted and snappish, and she seemed equally affected. They obviously know each other, but Kylo isn't volunteering any information. He's barely said a word since they left the hospital.

"Fine," Phasma says around the straw of her milkshake. "We can work with them, or whatever, but don't be surprised if Finn falls through a few more walls."

"Please refrain from physical abuse throughout the duration of this collaboration." 

"I never said it'd be my fault."

"Why do you hate those guys so much?" Kylo asks suddenly, finally picking up his burger and straightening slightly in his chair.

Hux raises his eyebrows, somewhat surprised at Kylo's decision to reengage.

Phasma cackles. "Fuck, who _wouldn't_ hate those guys?"

"It's not a very interesting story," Hux says, drumming his fingers on the side of his mug. "We've crossed paths a few time in the past and we just...have different ways of doing things."

"Not to mention they're insufferable," Phasma offers.

"That as well."

Kylo looks intrigued, which Hux supposes is fair. They don't really talk much about the time before Kylo joined the team. 

"They just think they know everything." Phasma rolls her eyes. "And they think they're hot shit because their advisor is Leia Organa."

Kylo freezes with his burger halfway to his mouth and shoots her a look. "You know Leia Organa?"

"Everyone knows Leia Organa. Hux and I almost went to Alderaan, didn't we?"

Kylo swivels his head to face Hux so quickly that Hux blinks. "What?"

Hux sets his mug aside and considers Kylo carefully as he responds, "Yes. Of the few institutions that accept the paranormal field, Alderaan is highly regarded, and I toured the campus when I decided to attend graduate school. I was supposed to meet with Dr. Organa, but she was called away. A family emergency, from what I heard."

Kylo flinches back almost imperceptibly and averts his eyes, biting into his burger. Phasma seems too absorbed in her fries to notice, but Hux sees, and it sends the motor in his brain into overdrive. Does Kylo have some sort of history with Dr. Leia Organa? Or perhaps with Alderaan University? Hux doubts Kylo would tell him if he asked, at least at the moment. Back in Vermont, Hux found himself unduly pleased when Kylo willingly spoke about his past, but those were different circumstances. Quiet moments bathed in starlight might encourage more honesty than Kylo would otherwise offer.

The image of Kylo's face awash in the gentle glow of the stars, birthmarks stark against pale skin and eyes reflecting a sea of glittering lights rises unbidden to the front of Hux's mind, and for an instant the memory is so crisp and vivid that Hux can feel the cool night air on his cheeks and the hot line of Kylo pressed along his side--

Hux clears his throat, swiftly banishing the pictures from his head before he blushes any harder. There's no point in dwelling on things that don't matter.

"Kylo," he starts, scratching his nails subtly against the underside of the table just to give his twitchy hands something to do that won't result in broken dishware, "you and Rey seemed familiar. Have you met before?"

Kylo frowns at his burger. "Yeah," he answers curtly.

"Wait, you really know her?" Phasma asks.

Frown deepening, Kylo slouches in his seat. "Yeah."

"You didn't pick that up when he dragged her into that deathtrap of an RV?" Hux teases.

Phasma shrugs. "I wasn't gonna make assumptions. It could have been love at first sight for all I know."

The words creep into Hux's ears like spiders, itchy and venomous. _Love_. Kylo said they knew each other, so _love at first sight_ isn't likely, but some sort of romantic history isn't out of the question. In fact, it isn't even much of a rational leap. Kylo is young and healthy and regrettably attractive. He can be charming when he wants to be and he's surprisingly easy to talk to. Hux doesn't know anything about his preferences, but he's statistically likely to be attracted to women, if nothing else, so the idea that his connection with Rey is romantic in nature isn't illogical.

Kylo's dour, pouty reaction to seeing her doesn't discount the theory either. If she's an ex, of course he wouldn't be happy to see her.

But Hux shouldn't jump to conclusions.

"So how do you know her?" Hux presses calmly.

"It's not important," Kylo says gruffly, ducking his head.

"Hell of a coincidence, though." Phasma picks up the dessert menu from the center of the table and starts paging through it thoughtfully. "That _our_ new team member knows _their_ new team member."

"It does seem fairly unlikely," Hux agrees, gaze boring into the top of Kylo's head. "Did you and Rey go to school together?"

"No," Kylo grunts.

Hux waits but Kylo doesn't continue. "How did you meet, then?"

"I've known her a long time," Kylo mumbles, jamming a fry into his mouth.

_A long-term relationship gone sour?_ No-- Hux gives himself a mental shake to stop his useless conjecturing.

"So are you friends?" Phasma perks up. "Can you get me her number?"

Kylo barks out a sharp, rough laugh. "I wouldn't call us _friends_."

_So it was a messy break-up_ \-- Hux snatches his mug off the table and drains the rest of his tea in one aggressive gulp. These adolescent pangs of jealousy are _unhelpful_ and Hux won't tolerate them.

If Phasma or Kylo noticed his unnecessarily violent drinking method, neither of them comment. Kylo just stuffs half his burger into his mouth to dissuade more questions and Phasma starts looking for a waiter to order dessert.

Hux places his empty cup on the table with quiet sigh. He really had been enjoying the relative peace of the last few assignments. It had allowed him to settle back into his safe, comfortable routine. There had been no near-death experiences, no huge arguments, no kept secrets, no potentially romantic interludes. Just simple, easy ghost-hunting, as paradoxical as the concept may be. Now his cautiously rebuilt reality is shaking to pieces again.

A nudge against his foot jerks Hux out of his morose ponderings and he glances down to see Kylo kicking him gently under the table. He looks back at Kylo. "What?" 

Kylo nods pointedly at Hux's untouched plate. "Eat that."

Hux blinks at him for a beat. Then he snorts. "You're not my boss."

A shadow of a smile flickers across Kylo's face. "Fine, then I'll eat it." He reaches an arm across the table.

Half-instinctively, Hux smacks Kylo's encroaching hand, and Kylo pulls back with a laugh.

Fighting back a smile of his own, Hux picks up his sandwich.

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea when the next chapter will be out, but you can encourage me over on my tumblr.
> 
> Also, I stopped responding to individual comments because it just stressed me out too much, but if you ever have a question about something in the fic or are confused by something I didn't explain very well, please feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer. Thanks so much for reading!


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